wary puppy 5.5 full install - no grub (Solved)

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alpage2
Posts: 4
Joined: Sat 04 May 2013, 14:38

wary puppy 5.5 full install - no grub (Solved)

#1 Post by alpage2 »

Wary Puppy seems ideal for my 15 year old, ex-Win 98 laptop - 400MHz AMD K6 CPU (i586), 192 MB RAM, 5.5 GB HD.

HD set up with two primary partitions:
sda1 5.16 GB, boot flag set, formatted ext4
sda2 429 MB - linux swap.

I did a full install from a live CD, using the universal installer. At the end of the install, a text box directed me to set up a menu.lst file, and to install grub from the system menu, but any attempt to install grub from the SYSTEM...Grub Legacy bootloader config menu seems to fail..

Looking at the contents of sda1, I have a /boot directory, and within that a vmlinuz file and a grub subdirectory which is completely empty. I have placed a menu.lst file in /boot.

When I reboot the laptop, it is unable to find an operating system.

I'd be grateful for advice on how I can install grub manually - my linux CLI skills are limited, so a detailed blow-by-blow procedure would be much appreciated.

Thanks in anticipation
Alan
Last edited by alpage2 on Mon 06 May 2013, 08:02, edited 1 time in total.

Dewbie

#2 Post by Dewbie »

Try grub4dos instead of grub.
It's easier to work with.
If it's not in the menu, you can get it over here.
400MHz AMD K6 CPU
And while you're at it, have a look at this.

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rjbrewer
Posts: 4405
Joined: Tue 22 Jan 2008, 21:41
Location: merriam, kansas

#3 Post by rjbrewer »

Legacy Grub is much simpler.
Especially the new 2013 version.

http://murga-linux.com/puppy/viewtopic. ... 147#692147

Inspiron 700m, Pent.M 1.6Ghz, 1Gb ram.
Msi Wind U100, N270 1.6>2.0Ghz, 1.5Gb ram.
Eeepc 8g 701, 900Mhz, 1Gb ram.
Full installs

alpage2
Posts: 4
Joined: Sat 04 May 2013, 14:38

wary puppy 5.5 full install - no grub Post a

#4 Post by alpage2 »

Thanks, both.

It was the legacy Grub config item in the system menu that I tried to use - with no joy.

I did also try the grub4dos menu entry, which again led to the familiar nil response.

Is threre a way I can install grub from the CLI?

Th\anks
Alan

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rjbrewer
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Joined: Tue 22 Jan 2008, 21:41
Location: merriam, kansas

#5 Post by rjbrewer »

It is not necessary to edit the menu.lst in order for Grub
to boot with just a single partition.

With Grub legacy, it asks where the files should go.

They go to /dev/sda1.
The next window asks where to install Grub.
Choose mbr.

reboot
do not save

Inspiron 700m, Pent.M 1.6Ghz, 1Gb ram.
Msi Wind U100, N270 1.6>2.0Ghz, 1.5Gb ram.
Eeepc 8g 701, 900Mhz, 1Gb ram.
Full installs

circularL7
Posts: 112
Joined: Sat 02 Feb 2013, 07:26

#6 Post by circularL7 »

Hi, Alan, and welcome from a fellow noob.

If you had caught my pre-edited post, please ignore as I'm on a new phone and having a hard time adapting to a small screen and can't read.

alpage2
Posts: 4
Joined: Sat 04 May 2013, 14:38

wary puppy 5.5 full install - no grub

#7 Post by alpage2 »

Hello All

Thanks, circularL7 for the welcome.

Thanks to All for the help.

I can report that when I booted from the install CD, again, and tried the SYSTEM...grub4dos menu item, again, this time it installed grub. Why it did not respond on all the previous occasions remains a mystery - I had done nothing different.

But all's well that ends well, and wary puppy is running well from the HD.

One minor disappointment was that my yahoo mail, with its latest heavily scripted interface, is still too heavyweight to run well in a browser on this machine - so I'll be looking for an IMAP client among the additional puppy packages ;)

Thanks again to everyone.
Regards
Alan

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Monsie
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Joined: Thu 01 Dec 2011, 07:37
Location: Kamloops BC Canada

Re: wary puppy 5.5 full install - no grub Post a

#8 Post by Monsie »

alpage2 wrote:Thanks, both.

It was the legacy Grub config item in the system menu that I tried to use - with no joy.

I did also try the grub4dos menu entry, which again led to the familiar nil response.

Is threre a way I can install grub from the CLI?

Th\anks
Alan
There appears to be some confusion here. Note that Grub Legacy Bootloader Config is not the same as Legacy Grub Config 2013 that rcrns51 put together (which rjbrewer has recommended for you to try). Furthermore, it turns out that Grub Legacy Bootloader Config is broken in Wary 5.5 so, one solution is to install the Wary 5.5.1 service pack (it is a Pet package available here) before installing Puppy to the hard drive. The grub4dos method is known to work in Wary 5.5 as confirmed in this thread here.

I would consider wiping your hard drive and having another go with a fresh installation.

Edit: Note that I posted this feedback within minutes of and before seeing your latest post... however, I hope to have cleared up some confusion/mystery here.

Hope this helps,
Monsie
My [u]username[/u] is pronounced: "mun-see". Derived from my surname, it was my nickname throughout high school.

alpage2
Posts: 4
Joined: Sat 04 May 2013, 14:38

Re: wary puppy 5.5 full install - no grub Post a

#9 Post by alpage2 »

Monsie wrote: There appears to be some confusion here. Note that Grub Legacy Bootloader Config is not the same as Legacy Grub Config 2013 that rcrns51 put together (which rjbrewer has recommended for you to try). Furthermore, it turns out that Grub Legacy Bootloader Config is broken in Wary 5.5 so, one solution is to install the Wary 5.5.1 service pack (it is a Pet package available here) before installing Puppy to the hard drive. The grub4dos method is known to work in Wary 5.5 as confirmed in this thread here.

I would consider wiping your hard drive and having another go with a fresh installation.

Hope this helps,
Monsie
Thanks, Monsie - that certainly clears up the mystery. Now that grub4dos is already installed, I won't need another install, just yet :)

Does the Wary 5.5.1 service pack bring other benefits that would still make it worth installing?

Thanks
Alan

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Monsie
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Joined: Thu 01 Dec 2011, 07:37
Location: Kamloops BC Canada

[SOLVED] wary puppy 5.5 full install - no grub

#10 Post by Monsie »

alpage2 wrote:
Does the Wary 5.5.1 service pack bring other benefits that would still make it worth installing?
Yes it does... Have a look at Barry's Blog right here.

Monsie
My [u]username[/u] is pronounced: "mun-see". Derived from my surname, it was my nickname throughout high school.

Dewbie

#11 Post by Dewbie »

alpage2 wrote:
One minor disappointment was that my yahoo mail, with its latest heavily scripted interface, is still too heavyweight to run well in a browser on this machine - so I'll be looking for an IMAP client among the additional puppy packages
Here's an oldie-but-goodie; supports multiple accounts, too. :)

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